Chief Justice Prakash Tatia said the increasing number of criminal cases is a dangerous trend, which indicates that the judicial system has lost credibility. Tatia was speaking at the first executive-judiciary meet on the ‘Role of Stakeholders in Criminal Trial & Investigation in Jharkhand,’ on Saturday.
Referring to instances of heinous crimes, the Chief Justice stressed on the need to restore viability of the criminal justice system through concerted efforts of each and every member of investigating and prosecuting agencies and the courts. This would save the system from decay, as trust and confidence of the people is eroding fast, he added.
“A total of 3,61,222 cases were pending all over the State in various courts as of December 31, 2012, out of which 2,65,312 cases were criminal cases. Thus, 73.5 per cent are of criminal nature. This is a really dangerous trend which proves that people are taking law into their hands,” said Tatia.
He said the meet had been organised for self introspection of their constitutional duties and to address the erosion of the recent past.
“I propose that a resolution should be passed in the form of ‘the way forward’ in order to make the criminal justice system in Jharkhand more effective, more humane and more scientific,” said Tatia.
Advisor to the Governor Madhukar Gupta said police and judges are the principal organisations when it comes to maintaining law. “It is time to retrospect about our responsibilities,” he added.
Advisor to the Governor K Vijay Kumar also said that the law necessarily focuses on what is contextually important in the society.
Rajasthan High Court Justice Sandeep Mehta praises the initiative taken by Jharkhand High Court and said it was platform where doubts about each other could be cleared. He said every State should organise such programme to bridge the gap between the investigating agency and judiciary.
Bihar DGP Abhyanad pointed out that forensic science must be used more and more during investigations as science is supposed to be neutral. He, however, also warned that digital database used as evidence is the most vulnerable to tampering.
The meet was attended by the dignitaries from all three wings —investigation, prosecution and trial — of the justice delivery system, including DGPs of Jharkhand and Bihar, judges of Jharkhand High Court and advocates.